Places to Eat

St Elizabeth is Jamaica’s breadbasket, producing some 40 per cent of the island’s food supplies. It is therefore bountifully equipped to provide the vast array of fresh fruit and vegetable typical of the island’s cuisine. But in addition to all that, St Elizabeth is also shrimp, fish and bammy country.Visitors to the parish can extend their culinary experience from fine restaurant dining to casual at such famous roadside hotspots as Middle Quarters, known for its shrimp delights and Scott’s Cove on the Westmoreland border known for its spicy escoveitched fish and authentic St Bess cassava bammies.

Because the parish also largely offers villa and guesthouse accommodation, visitors can enjoy true home-style cooking prepared by their hosts.

Cloggy’s on the Beach

Some 5 minutes drive from downtownBlack River, along theCrane Roadheaded southeast towards Parrotee, is a number of beachfront guesthouses and restaurants. One of these is Cloggy’s on the Beach, a seafood restaurant which provides tasty meals and drinks in beautiful surroundings.

Tel: 876-634-2424

Farm Dinners

Dinner by moonlight is offered monthly in the TreasureBeacharea. “Farm Dinners” are collaboration between Jason Henzell of Jake’s and Liz Solms, an accomplished chef and sustainable agriculture expert. The programme supports the small independent farmers of the PedroPlains. Held at sunset on the Saturday closest to the full moon, the dinners feature organic dishes prepared and served on-site at local working farms.

Despite the rustic setting, the dinners are quite chic, featuring cocktails on arrival, choice wines and tables set with white linen. Dinner is cooked table-side.

Rates are US $95 per person, including transfers

Reservations can be made by calling Jake’s at 876.965.3000

Jack Sprat Café

One of two restaurants at Jake’s Hotel Villas and Spa, Jack Sprat overlooks CalabashBayand offers seafood, pizza and ice cream in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. There’s delicious fish, lobster, shrimp, crab, conch and pizza and a variety of island-flavoured ice cream.

Tel: 876-965-3000

Jake’s Country Kitchen

On the diverse menu at Jake’s Country Kitchen are items such as pumpkin ginger soup, salads and lobster. This is one of the two restaurants on the property at Jake’s Hotel, Villa and Spa atCalabashBayinTreasureBeach. Its culinary offering complements the resort and the other restaurant and bar at Jake’s.

Tel: 876-965-3000

Little Ochie

At Little Ochie, located in Alligator Pond on the border with the neighbouring parish ofManchester, you can enjoy some of the finest seafood. Delivered daily from the fisherman’s catch you can choose your own, fish, conch or lobster, have it cooked to order and served on the thatched gazebo like structures right on the fishing beach. Waves gently rolling in, fishing boats bobbing and swooping gulls complete the picture. Enjoy!

The multi-award winning restaurant at Marblue Villas combines beautiful sea views and delicious food to provide the perfect atmosphere for one’s dining pleasure. Located inside the Marblue Villa Suites Guest House, Marblue adds European cuisine styles to fresh Jamaican produce and seafood to whet the appetite. Among the favourite the menu items are the renowned Surf and Turf consisting of Filet Mignon topped with freshly caught Lobster, Filet of Red Snapper topped with Shrimp, Home Made Ice Creams and fine wines.

Paradise Ocean View Restaurant and Bar

The Paradise Ocean View Restaurant and Bar is among the choice of restaurants to be found in the Parrotee resort area, just about 7 minutes drive to the south east of the Black River Bridge. Located beside a small park called Prosperity,Paradiseoffers a cocktail bar and exclusive dining services. This is a scenic place to have breakfast, lunch, dinner or your favourite evening cocktail while enjoying the sea view and the tranquil atmosphere.

Tel: 379-5224; 867-7614

Pelican Bar

The Pelican Bar is perhaps the most unusual bar on earth. Built on stilts about a mile off the coast in theCaribbean Sea, Pelican got its name from the birds that frequented the site. The bar is the brainchild of Floyd, a fisherman from Parrottee who used to take a break there on his fishing trips. To get to the Pelican, you’ll have to get aboard a boat and take a ride of about 10 minutes from Parrottee; 20 fromBlack River and 50 fromTreasureBeach. Just ask in your hotel and they’ll tell you how to get there. The Pelican Bar is a true watering hole in the middle of the sea where you can savour a fresh seafood meal, swim around off the sand bank, have a cool drink and really relax.

Address - On a sandbank off the Parrotee Coast St. ElizabethTel: 876 354-4218

Waterloo Restaurant and Bar

The restaurant and bar at Waterloo Guest House in Black Riveris housed in the original Georgian wooden house that harks back to the town’s glory days in the 19th century. It is here in the first house inJamaica to have received electrical power, that the chef will serve you a variety of Jamaican and international dishes at reasonable prices. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner you can choose from Continental breakfasts through to local Jamaican favourites as well as international fare, done to order.